Writer Hired For Ron Howard And Brian Grazer's 1984

Back in March a strange story surfaced online. It was reported that Brian Grazer and Ron Howard would be making a new adaptation of George Orwell's brilliant novel 1984 inspired by renowned street artist Shepard Fairey. At the time the project was in the earliest stages of development and had yet to find a writer or director. The production staff is still working on the latter, but now they've wrangled the former.

Deadline reports that Noah Oppenheim has been hired to create the newest adaptation of 1984. Oppenheim, who was previously known as a television producer on shows like Hardball With Chris Matthews, Today and The Buried Life, he has made the switch over to screenwriting and already has a number of other high-profile projects on his plate. As previously reported the scribe is working on the WarGames remake, the redo of Daniel Espinosa's Snabba Cash, and The Secret Life of Houdini (the Harry Houdini movie that Gary Ross will direct).

1984 was first published in 1949 and tells the story of a dystopian future where a man named Winston Smith rebels against the evil, ever-watching Big Brother. The book has gotten adapted multiple times, most notably in 1956 (Michael Anderson directing, Edmond O'Brien starring) and 1984 (Michael Radford directing, John Hurt starring).

Deadline confirms that Fairey will serve as an executive producer on the project along with Grazer and Howard. No production start or release date is mentioned for the film.